This invention relates to medical and surgical devices, and is more particularly concerned with devices and apparatus for stabilizing and supporting a patient's arm or leg during a surgical procedure or other medical procedure.
In some surgical procedures, in particular those which may involve the side of the thorax or rib cage, it is necessary for the patient to hold his or her arm in an elevated position. If the arm position changes during surgery, it can make the procedure more complex. However, to date no effective support device has been proposed as a rest for the patient's limb, i.e., arm or leg, while undergoing surgery or other medical procedure.
A foam cushion type arm rest exists, as discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,730,801 to Cloward. However, that device is only intended as a cushioning stabilizer for a patient that is oriented into a prone position. The patient's arms are not elevated above the head, and thus the Cloward arm rest is suitable mostly or entirely for procedures where the patient has to lie face down; that same cushioning system could not be used for a procedure where the patient's arm must be kept at an elevated position where the patient is lying on his or her side. Also, because the Cloward device is made of foam plastic, it is difficult or impossible to render sterile after a procedure, and thus has to be discarded, thereby elevating the costs of surgery.
There are other procedures as well where the patient's leg needs to be elevated at a particular height and a particular angle, but there is no convenient means now available to hold the patient's lower limb comfortably and stably.